As of 2014, Murphy's films have grossed over $3.8 billion in the United States and Canada box office, and $6.6 billion worldwide.[5] In 2015, his films made him the 6th-highest grossing actor in the United States.[6][7][8]

Early life

Murphy was born in Brooklyn, New York City,[2] and raised in the borough's Bushwick neighborhood.[10] His mother, Lillian, was a telephone operator, and his father, Charles Edward Murphy, was a transit police officer and an amateur actor and comedian.[2][11][12][13]

His father died when he was young.

"My mother and father broke up when I was three, and he died when I was eight, so I have very dim memories… He was a victim of the Murphy charm (laughs). A woman stabbed my father. I never got all the logistics. It was supposed to be one of those crimes of passion: 'If I can't have you, no one else will'-kind of deal. Someone said to me one day, 'That's why you don't trust women.' Get the fuck outta here. What are you, a fucking psychiatrist?" – Eddie Murphy[14]

When Murphy's single mother became ill, the eight-year-old and his older brother lived in foster care for one year. In interviews, Murphy has said that his time in foster care was influential in developing his sense of humor. Later, he and his older brother Charlie were raised in Roosevelt, New York by his mother and stepfather Vernon Lynch, a foreman at an ice cream plant.[11]

Around the age of 15, Murphy was writing and performing his own routines, which were heavily influenced by Bill Cosby and Richard Pryor.[11]

Career

Stand-up comedy

His early comedy was characterized by frequent swearing and sketches lampooning a diverse group of people (including White Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASPs), African Americans, Italian Americans, overweight people, and gay people). Murphy released two stand-up specials. Eddie Murphy was his first album, released in 1982. Delirious was filmed in 1983 in Washington, D.C. Due to the popularity of Delirious, his concert film Eddie Murphy Raw (1987) received a wide theatrical release, grossing $50 million; the movie was filmed in the Felt Forum section of Madison Square Garden in New York.[15][16]

1980s acting career

Murphy in 1988

Murphy first earned national attention as a cast member on Saturday Night Live (SNL), and was credited with helping to revitalize the show during the early 1980s.[17] His notable characters included a grownup version of the Little Rascals character Buckwheat;[18] a street-wise children's show host named Mr. Robinson (a spoof of Fred Rogers, who found it amusing[19]); and a morose, cynical Gumby, whose trademark slogan became an SNL catchphrase: "I'm Gumby, dammit!"[18]

The Buckwheat character was retired in spectacular fashion—assassinated, on camera, in front of 30 Rockefeller Plaza—at Murphy's request, after he grew tired of constant demands from fans to "Do Buckwheat! Do Buckwheat!"[20][21] In Rolling Stone magazine's February 2015 appraisal of all 141 SNL cast members to date, Murphy was ranked second (behind John Belushi). "It is customary (and accurate) to say that Eddie Murphy is the only reason SNL survived the five-year wilderness without Lorne Michaels," they noted.[22]

In 1982, Murphy made his big screen debut in the film 48 Hrs. with Nick Nolte.[11]48 Hrs. proved to be a hit when it was released in the Christmas season of 1982. Nolte was scheduled to host the December 11, 1982, Christmas episode of Saturday Night Live, but became too ill to host, so Murphy took over. He became the only cast member to host while still a regular. Murphy opened the show with the phrase, "Live from New York, It's the Eddie Murphy Show!" The following year, Murphy starred in Trading Places with fellow SNL alumnus Dan Aykroyd.[11]

The movie marked the first of Murphy's collaborations with director John Landis (who also directed Murphy in Coming to America and Beverly Hills Cop III) and proved to be an even greater box office success than 48 Hrs. In 1984, Murphy starred in the successful action comedy film Beverly Hills Cop.[11] The film was Murphy's first solo leading role.[11]Beverly Hills Cop grossed over $230 million at the box office and as of August 2012[update] was 41st in the list of all-time total U.S. box office grossers (4th-highest amongst "R" rated films), after adjusting for inflation.[23]

In 1984, Murphy appeared in Best Defense, co-starring Dudley Moore. Murphy, who was credited as a "Strategic Guest Star", was added to the film after an original version was completed but tested poorly with audiences. Best Defense was a major financial and critical disappointment. When he hosted SNL, Murphy joined the chorus of those bashing Best Defense, calling it "the worst movie in the history of everything". Aykroyd originally wrote the Winston Zeddemore character in Ghostbusters specifically for Murphy, but he was unable to commit at the time due to the Beverly Hills Cop shooting schedule.[citation needed] The part ultimately went to Ernie Hudson.

They both appear on his 1982 self-titled comedy album.) "Party All the Time" was featured on Murphy's 1985 debut album How Could It Be, which included a minor follow-up R&B hit in the title track, a duet with vocalist Crystal Blake. This track was written by Rusty Hamilton and was produced by Stevie Wonder's cousin Aquil Fudge after a brief falling out with Rick James. In 2004, VH-1 and Blender voted "Party All the Time" number seven among the "50 Worst Songs of All-Time." Sharam used a sample of the song for the UK #8 hit "PATT (Party All The Time)" in 2006. "Put Your Mouth on Me" appeared on Murphy's 1989 follow-up album, So Happy.

Although Murphy has enjoyed commercial success since Saturday Night Live, he did not participate in the making of the Live From New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live retrospective book by Tom Shales and James Andrew Miller (2002), nor did he ever attend cast reunions or anniversary specials until his appearance on the SNL 40th anniversary special. Murphy's box office results began to recover in 1996, starting with The Nutty Professor.

Murphy was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor on January 23, 2007, but lost to Alan Arkin for his performance in Little Miss Sunshine – there was a suggestion that one of the reasons Murphy lost out on winning the Academy Award were the negative reviews of his subsequent film Norbit, released in early February 2007.[30] As a result, Murphy notoriously exited the 79th Academy Awards as soon as Arkin was announced the winner.[31][32]

Dreamgirls was the first film distributed by Paramount Pictures to star Murphy (who once was on an exclusive contract with the studio) since Vampire in Brooklyn in 1995.

On December 6, 2013, it was announced that Murphy would star in the fourth film of the Beverly Hills Cop series. Brett Ratner will direct the film, Jerry Bruckheimer is confirmed to produce the film, and Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec will write.[35] In a June 2014 interview Murphy discussed the plot of the film stating that it would take place in Detroit and they would actually film in Detroit bringing in an estimated $56.6 million to the state of Michigan.[36] On June 14, 2016, it was confirmed that Murphy was still set to reprise his role as Axel Foley in a fourth film of the Beverly Hills Cop franchise.[37][38]

On March 8, 2014, it was announced that Murphy would team up with Boomerang co-star Halle Berry in a new film titled Miles And Me. The film was also set to star Laurence Fishburne and was set to begin pre-production in 2014 from Paramount Pictures. No other word was released about or who else was attached.[39]

Personal life

Family

Murphy has a son, Eric (born circa 1989), with then girlfriend Paulette McNeely, and a son, Christian (born circa 1990) with then girlfriend Tamara Hood.[45][46]

Murphy began a longtime romantic relationship with Nicole Mitchell after meeting her in 1988 at an NAACP Image Awards show. They lived together for almost two years before getting married at the Grand Ballroom of The Plaza Hotel in New York City on March 18, 1993.[47] Murphy and Mitchell had five children together: Bria, Myles, Shayne, Zola, and Bella.[45][46] In August 2005, Mitchell filed for divorce, citing "irreconcilable differences". The divorce was finalized on April 17, 2006.[48]

Following his divorce from Mitchell, in 2006, Murphy began dating former Spice GirlMelanie Brown, who became pregnant and stated that the child was Murphy's. When questioned about the pregnancy in December 2006, by RTL Boulevard, Murphy told Dutch reporter Matthijs Kleyn, "I don't know whose child that is until it comes out and has a blood test. You shouldn't jump to conclusions, sir". Brown gave birth to a baby girl, Angel Iris Murphy Brown, on Murphy's 46th birthday, April 3, 2007.

On June 22, 2007, representatives for Brown announced in People that a DNA test had confirmed that Murphy was the father.[50] Brown had stated in an interview that Murphy has not sought a relationship with Angel,[51][52] although it was later reported in 2010 that Murphy was getting to know her.[53]

Murphy exchanged marriage vows with film producer Tracey Edmonds, former wife of Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, on January 1, 2008, in a private ceremony on an island off Bora Bora.[54] On January 16, 2008, the couple released a statement saying, "After much consideration and discussion, we have jointly decided that we will forgo having a legal ceremony as it is not necessary to define our relationship further," and called the Bora Bora wedding a "symbolic union". The two had planned on having a legal ceremony upon their return to the U.S. but did not, and their wedding was never official.[55]

Murphy began dating model Paige Butcher in 2012.[56] Their daughter Izzy was born May 3, 2016.[57]

Lawsuit

In 1988 Art Buchwald sued Murphy and Paramount Pictures, alleging that they had used ideas from a screenplay he had submitted to Paramount as the basis for Murphy's film Coming to America. In 1992 Buchwald was awarded $150,000 in a summary judgment; Buchwald's producing partner, Alan Bernheim, was awarded $750,000. Both sides described the outcome as a "victory".[58]

Legal issues

On May 2, 1997, Murphy was stopped by police after having been observed picking up a transvestite prostitute. The prostitute, Atisone Seiuli, was arrested on an outstanding warrant for prostitution. Murphy was not arrested or charged and claimed he was just giving Seiuli a ride.[59]

Philanthropy

Murphy has donated money to the AIDS Foundation, and cancer, education, creative arts, family/parent support, health and homeless charities. He has donated to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center, various cancer charities and $100,000 to the Screen Actors' Guild's strike relief fund.[60]